PS Vita Information

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Hitting the PSP (and likely the PS Vita) next year comes the new MLB game from Take 12 with Detroit's Justin Verlander on the cover.

He's only the thirteenth pitcher in baseball history to throw multiple no-hitters and the first Detroit Tiger to win 20 games since 1991, Verlander pitched the Tigers to an AL Central title and into the 2011 American League Championship Series. Verlander is favored to win the American League Cy Young Award for pitching excellence during the 2011 season, and could even become the first pitcher since 1992 to win the Most Valuable Player Award.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Getting a Vita in February? Fancy Ridge Racer? the base game is just £15 on Amazon. Sure, that only gets you the three cars and five tracks (or was it the other way around) and there's loads of downloadable content to come, but its a pretty cheap way to start your Vita gaming.

Katamari is down for £22, Little Deviants for £18 with the big games like Hot Shots Golf, Unit 13 and ModNation Racers at the £28 mark. So, after all the Christmas splurging, time to start saving again, unless you were lucky and got lots of vouchers.

Sony's PSP and PS3 managed to beat the sales of the PS Vita in its second week of sales. Sure the initial enthusiasm will have waned, but even so that's a pretty poor showing for the Vita. Expect a rush of premature calls for a price cut to kick in pretty soon, especially as the 3DS is now approaching half-a-million a week in sales thanks to Monster Hunter.

The full price for PlayStation Vita games will be between £24.99 and £44.99. But has anyone paid full price for a game in years? Also, digital versions should be a lot cheaper, if we follow Japan's moves.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Japanese chart is out and on the back of its weekend launch, the PS Vita managed to get two games into the top 10. Hot Shots Golf (one of the best selling PSP titles) led the way with 64,000 sales with Uncharted just under 50,000. After selling 325,000 units the Vita is off to a solid, if unspectacular start.

One striking fact, the total absence of PSP games, having ruled the charts for much of the year. A couple of days sales won't show the true picture, so next week's charts will probably give a more reliable picture. One thing is for sure, the 3DS has definitely taken off with four out of the top five.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

This near five-minute video shows off Unit 13 from Zipper, not only the guns and characters, but the multiplayer with its daily challenges and new missions, which gives the game a real hook for those who love being top of the leaderboard.

The game does look gorgeous, with lots of tight spaces and sneaky views to help locate the enemy troops and in the absence of a Call of Duty it'll do nicely.

Just a quickie, but the That Game Company, the developers behind Flow, one of the first PSP download games have mentioned that they might bring the equally lovely, eerie and ethereal Flower and Journey games to the Vita.

Being a small development house of a dozen people, it's not something they can do right away, but both games will be a welcome addition to the PS Vita's line-up. And if TGC is looking at the Vita you can pretty much guarantee that the other indies are thinking about moving their games over. We've already seen that Plants vs. Zombies is coming, many more will follow. .

The first semi-official figure is out and the PS Vita sold 321,000 units in Japan in its first weekend. There is no breakdown between WiFi and 3G models, but if that rate continues, it will easily hit the million mark by Christmas. Most retailers said they still had the PS Vita in stock, but many had sold out of memory cards which might delay some sales.

That figure is roughly double what the PSP sold in its opening weekend, and just behind the 3DS. These figures will be discussed in an inane fashion by a bunch of people claiming the PSV is either doomed, or totally dead already. Ignore them and we'll see how it is doing in six months after its global launch. Sony will be delighted on the sales of memory cards as that's the only thing it is making a profit on right now.

Monday, December 19, 2011

An intrepid gamer braved the Japanese cold weather to pick up his Vita and then, rather than enjoying it, wasted his time recording all these YouTube videos. On the plus side, it does show off pretty much everything you can see and do on a Vita right now.

Here's the first video, which duplicates the set up one we covered over the weekend, there are 10 in total that show off more interesting stuff:

Part 2: Store features and the browser
Part 3: Browser, the welcome park, trophies
Part 4: Friends app, group messaging, Near
Part 5: Camera
Part 6: Remote play with PS3
Part 7: AR
games
Part 8: Uncharted
Part 9: Music
Part 10: Peace Walker PSP with filtering

This break in your normal scheduled handheld gaming comes with an important message. Comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli is getting people to sign up to the Anthony Nolan register to help cure people dying from blood cancer.

So, rather than saving the princess, or slaying the dragon - why not save a real life by signing up to the bone marrow register or donating cash to help slay a horrible cancer? Follow his quest on the full YouTube page. If Hardeep isn't your scene, then Charlie Brooker has also laid it out pretty straight.

And, while I don't normally beg for clicks, please retweet or like this on Facebook and help spread the word.

The first trailer for Sega's Samurai & Dragons is out, showing off what looks like a modern day Gauntlet with a spot of Sim City thrown in. Not forgetting the full-screen dragons to battle with your four players partying together in the dungeons and towers where the might beasts live.

For pretty much the first post-launch game announcement, this looks like it makes good use of the Vita's connectivity and social features - and shouldn't be too hard to tweak for a western release.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

The original price on these was £89, with Amazon selling them for £85. Now though the online retailer has lopped another £7 bringing them down to £78, so if you want a decent kiddie gaming present, then grab it here.

If you still want the full PSP experience, you're better off picking up a 3000 model, but these seem to be going out of stock (or being offered at silly prices) in several places, so I'm not sure what Sony's plans are long term with the Vita out in just 66 days!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Here's a handy tutorial video showing how PSP games work on the Vita and how you set up the extra features. Logically, you only need to press on the screen to access the Vita additions including bilinear filtering, right-stick support, camera support for Invizimals (can't think of any others) and so on.

Keep watching for the Welcome Park and Trophies, all of which is shown in English.

Not convinced myself, but the game does look pretty playable with those additional touch controls. At its core though, the game looks very slick and fast, definitely one to pick up I think, along with my new best fighting buddy BlazBlue.

Sony PSP games look pretty good on the Vita, and the whole launch seems to have gone off okay - no massive recall disaster.

One of the Kotaku guys has done this and he gets a couple of bouts of Vitastab as he sets it up. There's quite a bit to do as you set up the various connectivity systems. This isn't a console for a kid's birthday.

There are plenty more videos of the Vita's features (Remote play, Near, Social, Music etc) in action in a later post. Also, word is don't bother importing, customs are throwing a strop at the Lion battery and returning them to sender.

Famitsu's special Vita edition contains all the first wave game reviews with the usual suspects at the top and a bloated corpse of F1 2011 at the bottom (which everyone has had doubts about, wonder what the chances are of a delay to the western version.)

Vita-original games are pretty average by the looks of it, Little Deviants being the only real one so far.

Japan now has its hands on the PS Vita with reports of 100+ strong queues outside some of the bigger stores with many 100s of buyers at the main events where Sony's Kaz Hirai and Andrew House were on-hand to add a little official flavour to the launch. Check out a live blog here and news updates below:

First interesting stat from the Vita is that the physical purchase game card loading times are faster, rather than the download versions saved to the PS Vita's over-priced memory cards. Perhaps that's part of some deal with chain stores to help keep them open? (scurrilous rumour, naturally)

Check out Andriasang's full range of pics, and there are some comparisons of Monster Hunter running on the PSP And PSV here, to show off the Vita's improved filtering. Sony must be hoping those five million Monster Hunter fans are happy to play the old game on a Vita rather than rush off and get the 3DS and its version.

The first bit of news in this machine's short life is that Firmware update 1.5 is already out, which is leading to lots of "here we go, again!" sighs from old PSP owners. If Sony have found a flaw in the 1.00 software, likely these early machines will be like golddust to modders and pirates.

Friday, December 16, 2011

The company said, "You may have seen already that Rockstar’s legendary Grand Theft Auto 3 is out now. It is also optimised for Xperia PLAY" which is a pretty terse statement for one of the best loved games of all time hitting your platform - surely there should be a little more shouting about it.

Vitastab (verb) - A frenetic series of finger jabs on the screen and buttons when the user is not sure what they are supposed to do next. This mental confusion arises from the PS Vita having two input methods and it not being obvious which one to try.

After some silly hi-res pics, an off-cam clip, now we can see what FIFA 12 really looks like on the PS Vita thanks to a new EA video. I do actually like the idea of touch screen passing, as long as the incoming player reacts smartly enough to your punts.

In a few hours, lucky Japanese gamers will be picking up the PS Vita. Expect some frenetic scenes as gamers move into the next generation of portable fun. Andriasang has a massive gallery of the accessories that will be available.

Japanese stores are preparing for the big day with events and expect lots of photos of happy campers queueing for hours, then gurning for the camera when they get their little blue box. I'll update this page with news and pics as they happen.

It'll be fun to see what games the early movers pick up for their Vita and just what their reaction is to the price of memory.

UPDATES:

Here we have what looks like the first real-world user unboxing of a PS Vita.

Famitsu has site up its own Vita site to keep track of events, (easily translatable with Google Chrome).

Word is the first shipment of PS Vitas is some 700,000 which doesn't sound much for a company that's been aiming for a single territory launch. Apple must be laughing their faces off, that's barely enough for metropolitan Tokyo's gamers let alone the rest of the country.

Japan's hit Stein's Gate, a story-led game will soon be accessible to Vita owners a few days after the system's launch as the game joins the roster of UMD Passport games. Upgrading PSP types will be able to carry on their adventures for just 1,000 yen.

Expect more games to pop up on Passport now that the Vita is live, and developers smell some more money as PSP gamers upgrade.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Here's a new trailer for BeatShaper's StarDrone Extreme, the bright and fast arcade game that reminds me vaguely of intestines and amoeba. The game is down for the Vita's western launch and should offer something a little different.

Sorry for the delay on the update, but quite a good one it is. I've left the file sizes in because most of these are monster games, even the PSone adventure Fear Effect. All I can find out about Ambassador Kane is on a producer's CV here (UPDATE: Thanks to HiddenAway for finding me a video, looks slick!).

File under "surely some mistake," but Amazon UK has listed the PS Vita's memory cards with some insane pricing: The 16GB is cheapest and the 4GB unit is more expensive than the 8GB Clearly madness and likely to be corrected very soon.

Also pretty sure if you pre-order it now, you'll have to pay the proper price come launch. UPDATE: The prices are still a bit whiffy, but the 16GB Card is now £39.99 so only 8 quid more than the 8GB one - go figure!

Wow, the 3DS version of Monster Hunter sold over 500,000 copies in its first week on sale. Something the Vita could badly have done because despite their decent efforts, all the wannabes just can't touch the phenomenon that is MH in Japan.

So, over the next few months, that's going to be four to five million gamers all squinting away at HM in 3D that won't be buying a Vita - a serious chunk of Sony's target audience. Even if Capcom does throw Sony a bone with a Vita upgraded version of MH3, the boat is sailing right now and it could take until 2013/14 for Capcom to come up with a proper sequel.

In the week before launch, you have to wonder how much Capcom asked Sony for to keep the game on its handheld. I suspect whatever it was Sony should have paid, because no matter what Nintendo paid Capcom, they just gor their money back.

As much as I'd like it to, but not as much as Sony need it to, I've noticed the big problem with the Vita. You might have too - all those mildly interesting new games revealed at the Spike awards - not one of them was for the Vita.

If U.S. developers thought the Vita was going to be worth their time, at least one or two of those games would have had a "for Vita" tag on them, and if the machine is on a par with the PS3 in any way, it's not because the Vita is difficult to code for or convert games to, far from it. The not-Metal Gear game in particular seemed ripe for Vita-ness.

Therefore, a logical conclusion is that developers of the big-name "event" games aren't biting. Sure there's an impressive launch line-up, but the original PSP had that and only in the subsequent years did it tail off as developers focused on the PS3. But with no sign of any of the new-era big name games, like Batman, Catherine and so on, Vita is already being ignored.

Now everyone is fixated on the Xbox which is doing massive sales and looking at the PS3 as a secondary target, which leaves the Vita off the radar. Of course, this could just be an industrywide ploy to keep the focus on all the launch games garnering press and there will be a second wave of announcements after the console is generally available, but I was expecting more news than there has been about its second batch of titles.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Tomorrow sees the Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky and Persona 2: Innocent Sin hitting PSN for €34.99/£27.99 each or as part of the Trails of Innocence double pack for €59.99 (£47.99). Both games are crackers and I'd rather pay that price for a quality release and support a smaller publisher like Ghostlight, than fork out a similar amount for the latest FIFA rehash.

As expected, most of the "big name" mobile games will make it over to the Vita at some point or other. First up is Plants vs. Zombies, which I thought was rather slow and boring - but hey however many million casual gamers can't be wrong, right?

The news was confirmed only by tweet, with a pretty pic. Here's a video if you're unfamiliar with the game.

After the West's crappy showing on the PSP front, I hope it follows Japan's example with the Vita for TV content. Not only do they have Torne, which is getting an upgrade on the PS3 to serve content to the Vita, there is also s specific Nico app for video sharing.

Note, I want pure apps on the Vita - I don't want to stream stuff from PC or PS3 - just send it direct to Vita. That is all!

Sumioni will probably be ignored in the rush for big-brand name games as the Vita launches, but I reckon its worth a go, based on the beauty of the character designs (check out that peacock) and the cunning use of the touchscreens. This video of the first level shows off some of your moves and while those enemies look particularly dense, this could still be a good budget hit!

I think I've seen enough clips to know this game is both gorgeous and an essential purchase (not owning a PS3, I know nothing of older Uncharted games). If you want to get well into spoiler territory, enjoy this 15 minute clip narrated by two incredibly polite Japanese gents. Skip the first 3:30 if you want to bypass them

If you're aware of the PS Vita, there's no real need to check these out, we all know the drill. But, its always good to see if Sony can explain things to the masses properly (and I like the Transformer move) - do users really care what an OLED is?.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Sony is taking the Vita on tour around the UK to Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and London in January. Similar to Japan's caravan tour which wraps up in Tokyo with the launch event this week, the UK version called Vita Rooms will see players able to play the latest games for it and get a feel for the device.

Don't get celebrities that often in here, (an Xperia Play sneaked into a David Guetta video but now DJ Deadmau5) who did the pretty cool Nokia Lumia launch event in London...

... claimed on Facebook that he'd lost his PS Vita that he picked up at the recent Sony event. That kicked off a bit of a panic among his management and at Sony, but it just turns out to be a humorous prank.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

I always hated posting those hyper-res shots of FIFA 12 on the Vita, so here's some in-game action that shows it off in all its fluidly animated glory. Looks like its from one of the Sony events and while the camera is miles from the screen, we get the feeling this is just as good as the PS3/Xbox edition.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Spike has just put up an intro video for Shinobido 2. With the Vita launching in Japan next week (just one week - time has flown!) get a good look at what's going on, on a rooftop near you. Be sure to click on the 720p button for the best picture and enjoy.

A Doctor Who game, The Eternity Clock, will make its way to the PS3 and PS Vita in 2012 care of SuperMassive Games. There's little news apart from mention of River Song, and only this brief trailer to highlight what's to come. Don't expect this to hit the Vita's launch date - perhaps an Autumn release.

Haven't played any of the games related to the revamped series, but this could tempt me if its big budget enough and perhaps written by some of the old LucasArts adventure guys.

With Japanese RPGs still going crossover mad, what's not to like about Heroes Phantasia from Banpresto. The first few minutes is all anime and singy-song, then the PSP video kicks in with some character intros and special-move type scenes.

It's a natural move for a console with touch sensors, but will it be natural for users? Probably not. Still, Capcom has bolted in the obligatory rear touch panel feature into Marvel vs. Capcom 3. As well as playing multiplayer over WiFi, and watching other matches, they can use Near to exchange gifts and collectibles. But for those who do want to give touch combat a go they can:

Move forward/backward by dragging forward/backward

Dash forward/backward by flicking forward/backward

Duck by dragging down

Jump by flicking up

Change characters by tapping and holding the icon of the new character

Call on assist character by tapping the icon of the assist character

Attack by tapping anywhere but the icons

Execute your Hyper Combo by tapping the Hyper Combo Gauge

Its possible this might be in some way playable for casual types, but I can't imagine any of the fighting champions using it over their super-speed button reflexes.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

This shows how fast the gaming world is moving on phones. Classic game Grand Theft Auto III is coming to newer iPhone (4 and 4S, plus iPad 2) and some Android devices, but the Xperia Play - the one phone ideal for the job, with proper controls - isn't on the list.

UPDATE: Finally, after a week of arsing about, Sony Ericsson announced GTA III for the Xperia Play

The game is out next week for £2.99 and celebrates the games 10th birthday. Hopefully it will be playable on the Xperia Play, not sure I want to all that fighting and driving on a touchscreen - more news next week I guess.

Update: Word from Sony Ericsson's PR is they haven't heard anything about this title yet - hot on the case, obviously!

A couple of games make it onto the PSP via the latest PSN update today. First up is the last batch of Harry Potter movies in Lego form for £23.99 and The Mystery Team for £11.99, a Spanish developed adventure/detective/puzzle title, that looks well worth checking out.

I wish I could do a forward roll and all my enemies would instantly be flung back - would have been handy in junior school. Still, I can dream about that when playing the next Dynasty Warriors game on PS Vita and this video shows off some other awesome moves.

Minecraft is one of those endlessly updated games as the developers tweak, tuck and expand. The mobile version is getting a hefty update with the developers blog saying:

The plan now is to start digging into making Minecraft – Pocket Edition with Survival features!! Please note that we will NOT replicate Minecraft and try to bring all the features that are already out. This is not possible and does not match the touch platform. I’m trying to be as detailed as possible to show you why some stuff may take some time.

This is what the plan looks like right now and being worked on:
A new file system – to make sure we can support items and mobs in the world
Item system – to be able to pick up items
Crafting – we know you want this :) This will probably need some iterations since the interface will be customized for the touch devices
Inventory system
Mobs – animals and enemies!
Optimizing rendering code – we are experimenting with caves but need to make it work better before we are able to release it
Clean up of code and overall optimization

We've been drooling over some of the PS Vita launch games for months now. Want something new and sparkly to drool over instead? Well, Sega is offering up Samurai & Dragons, an dungeon/city builder game based on an iPhone title where you then charge into the dungeons to hack stuff up, with a keen sense of team and multiplayer elements in both sections.

It is being developed by Masayoshi Kikuchi who has been behind the likes of Yakuza, Jet Set Radio and Panzer Dragoon series. It will be shown off this week in Famitsu magazine and will be playable later in the month at the Jump Festa event.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The PSN blog has a new update showing some of the insides of the game with the garage and mechanic features. There's also a new shake to randomize function, while you can swap in and out parts to create a better kart and drag colours to the bodywork to jazz it up.

As the post says, "Just spread your thumb and finger on the screen to open and then a pinch to close the view. We can’t say it enough but there is just something intrinsically fun with the tactile feel of using your fingers to “explode” you kart open, spin it around, rinse and repeat!"

I'm not sure what the record is for the most pics of a game sent out pre-release, but Namco's new Tales game for the Vita must be pushing it. Andriasang has another three page roundup of images featuring lots of combat and action.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Japanese magazine Famitsu has been polling its users again, to find out what they most want on the Vita, the results are pretty straightforward., Uncharted is clearly the pick of the bunch, and given that Hot Shots was one of the best-selling PSP titles it will always do well.

Friday, December 2, 2011

What the hell is Little Deviants? The first pics were of some sort of deformable puzzle/racing looking game. Now it could be anything, a LittleBigPlanet or Ravin Rabbids gone Looney Tunes if you like, judging by these new pics posted by developer, bigBig studios.

Again, looking at a Vita screen is really a lot better than staring at screenshots or direct-feed video. While the lighting is a bit annoying, check out this cool bout of Marvel vs. Capcom and some Uncharted from a store event in Tokyo.

The poster comments that the load times take rather a long time, a bit disappointing if true, thought that'd gone the way of the UMD!

Clearly, someone is learning from the mobile drive in gaming. Rather than just bleating about how "mobile is stealing its industry" Konami is offering a chunk of its AR Combat tank game for free. Five of the 40 stages can be downloaded for nothing, and if you like those, then you can pay to download two DLC packs.

Perhaps if Namco had gone the same way with Ridge Racer, there wouldn't have been all this fuss about its own brand of DLC offering.

A new two-and-a-half minute video is up showing off plenty of action in the PS Vita version of Uncharted and you can't call spoilers because the language is all in Japanese. Watch, enjoy, begin the inevitable wait.

Really does look awesome and leaves most other Vita games looking like they have a lot to live up to, apart from WipEout perhaps.

The PSP is getting a port of the PS3's Samurai Warriors 3Z from Tecmo, and if you owned the original you can use your save games on the new version. Andriasang has a decent collection of screenshots, showing off the hefty mass battle scenes, and up to two-to-four players can join in the fight.

The game will be out in February, so some firms are clearly still banking on the tens of millions of PSP owners not all rushing out to upgrade. Even then, if its on the PSN - it should look even better on the new console.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Having just this minute published my review of the PSP edition, here comes news that the Vita EXTEND version is now confirmed for a European launch. It pretty much mirrors the PSP release, but - and here's hoping - the PSP's ad hoc-only multiplayer also gets a boost.

The press release says, "Brand new Team Battles for a better online experience. Play 2v2, 3v3 and even handicapped matchups, like 2v4." But doesn't specify if that's for the PS3/Xbox version only. Checking out to confirm if the Vita will benefit too.

Yep, this blog is 1,000 posts old, but there's fighting to be done, so on with the show!

A small confession, I'm not a great fighting game disciple. I do love a blast of immediate and OTT action from Tekken or Mortal Kombat over the subtleties of Street Fighter. In short bursts, I'm more of a button masher than a stylish blocker and, while the BlazBlue series has eluded me until now, it seems to have the necessary moves to grab me by the throat.

I love any game that throws a sense of fun at your head along with big hammers, robot-enhanced fighters, arachnids and other lunacy (Rival Schools was probably my all-time favourite). The good news is BlazBlue delivers on the frenetic action, over-the-top characters and huge amounts of content in its own bonkers style. The main menu packs in 13 options, 11 of which are game-related. First up is the training mode which helps overcome some of my button-mashing tendencies, although it would have been better if they'd remapped the A,B,C,D buttons to the PSP's in the text.

Kicking things off properly in arcade mode, we're introduced to a wide choice of characters including all the DLC peeps from the original game, making this something of a bargain. Each has their own loopy tale to tell which is expounded on between bouts, with some gratuitous boob-related humour, but its the fighting that's the heart of the game.

While the bigger, slower characters feel clumsy and frustrating, the lithe and nimble ones make the game a delight to get into. I'd recommended you start off with the likes of Taokaka or Noel Vermillion, and really get into the spirit of things before taking control of the heavyweights like the clunking Lambda 11.

Fighting is intense fun, with blissfully-designed level backdrops to strut your stuff in. Using beautifully animated leaps and charges to get across the wide levels, you can pummel, block and charge up your heat meter to unleash tricky special moves. Most moves have a neat visual effect and the more hits you string together, the busier things seem to get, but the pace never lets up.

All of this is backed up by an awesome wall of sound (this is the first PSP game that I've played through my new Turtle Beach XF1 with DSS headphones), kicks and taunts are driven by a corking soundtrack, while the story narration and background music are truly soulful.

You want to play in Story Mode if your want to get the deeper background of magic, mist and heroes - and if you like about five minutes between each fight. Other modes including Legion where you get to build up and army, and Abyss where you can level up your character's abilities from a shop add to the fun, in fact I don't think I've seen so many options in any fighter, portable or otherwise. Multiplayer is limited to Ad Hoc, a great shame - hopefully something the Vita EXTEND edition will fix.

Whether you want a quick fighting fix, or to dive into the deeper game modes, the latest BlazBlue feels perfectly balanced to welcome fun as well as hardcore gamers. It throws enough features and design effects in to keep you having "wow!" moments for many continuum loops to come.